/diy/ - Do It Yourself

ask your friends or google it kid

>>139552
Make ztar, it´s easier and make acoustic part on it. Make transposing software for acoustic part and ????????????

PROFIT

Ask this guy, he knows everything:
http://penderguitars.blogspot.com/

That bass looks fucking awesome

Assuming you mean electric guitars, here are some tips:

1. The wood REALLY doesn't matter (Unless it's fucking pressboard or some stupid shit. Just use your head). It's an electric guitar. You can make it sound however you want with effects and shit.
2. Paint and finish won't effect the tone enough for you to notice. Someone who has been playing their entire lives and has studied tone and shit will, but I'm assuming you haven't done that.
3. Don't make a fucking warlock body style or some stupid shit like that. Goddamn.

>>139886
Wood does matter, for a variety of reasons. Don't use something cheap and shitty OP. Go with mahogany, alder, basswood, or ash for the body. Maybe maple for the neck, although maple is a bitch to carve. Make it easy for yourself, and go with mahogany. Rosewood or ebony for the fretboard, which does NOT get finished.

>>139893
I failed in properly explaining that as long as it was decent wood (not plywood), he'd be fine.

But yeah, what that guy said.

>>139895
Certain woods aren't particularly well suited for building a solid body guitar of. Oak, for example, would be very heavy. And elm, which is very flexible, may have a dampening effect on the overall tone of the instrument.

Build a pine telecaster.

Not OP, but thoughts about building a guitar with an aliminium neck?

>>139908

>Wat

>>139908
It's been done. I'm not a fan, personally, but people buy them, apparently. Just design yourself a website that talks a lot of faux science about how the tone is way better, and people will buy anything.
>>139905
Pine is pretty soft. Although plenty of people have built instruments out of it, it's certainly not the best choice. Far from it, in my opinion.

>>139918
It is what telecasters were originally made from.

>>139909
Kramer built aluminium necked guitars in the 70's

>>139922
Yeah, but my understanding was that those were early prototype teles. Fender used whatever they had lying around in this case, and since they already had a shit ton of pine for amp cabinets, that's what they used.
There are still builders today that make 'vintage' style instruments, some made with pine, but just because it's what was used way back when doesn't always mean it'll sound better.

>>139886

You don't play much guitar, do you, son?

The wood DOES matter, VOLUMES more than you could ever imagine. Sustain, overall brightness, etc depend on wood.

Common woods:
>Mahogany
>Ash
>Maple
>Poplar
>Alder

Note, these are all hardwoods, of varying hardness and density. Poplar being the softest, and maple/ash being the hardest.

Ash is very bright, Mahogany is dark. Les Pauls/SG's etc, mahogany guitars, really bright strats = ash.

Most Fenders are alder, which is a good, inexpensive, whitish hard wood. It's never very pretty, that's why you don't see too many natural finished alder guitars. It CAN be gorgeous, but it's rare.

Density = sustain, the harder and more dense, the more sustain. This directly translates into more weight, it's a take and give situation.

>Finsh

You're ALSO wrong on this point, once again. Finish effects the overall brightness, and tonality of the guitar. A guitar with no finish is be inherently more bright than a guitar that is coated with polyester boat paint. Older guitars can have varnish, or nitrocellulose lacquer finishes, both of these finishes allow the wood to breathe more than a full coat of polyester paint, thus allowing a bright and more toneful guitar. Polyester is used on a fair amount of lower level instruments, usually where the wood is of dubious origin, or low quality. Polyester fills holes, nicks and dings, thus allowing less of a prep before painting. Less sanding and whatnot = less money per unit.

Warlocks suck.

Several companies made aluminum necked guitars and basses, the cheapest and easiest to find are the Kramers.

Vaccaro, Travis Bean are the high dollar ones.

Electrical Guitar Company makes them, currently, fantastic instrument, company is based out of Pensacola, FL.

pic related, Kramer Stagemaster Imperial.

captcha: insuld strat

>>139893

>tell's op not to go with cheap wood
>offers basswood as an option


wat

>>139930
There are varying qualities of basswood.

>>139934
>>139934

Janka hardness test for woods:

Ash: 5.9 kilonewtons - 1320 lbs/f
Maple: 5.2 kilonewtons - 1180 lbs/f
Mahogany: 3.6. kilonewtons - 880 lbs/f
Alder: 2.6 kilonewtons - 590lbs
Poplar: 2.4 kilonewtons - 540 lbs/f
>basswood: 1.8 kilonewtons - 410 lbs/f

basswood is cheap, low rate wood. Just sayain'.

>>139930
I offered basswood as an option because it's used to make guitar bodies. Is it cheaper? Yes. So I guess I misspoke when I said not to use any cheap wood. What I meant was not to skimp out on you wood. Don't buy the first slab of wood you see at the hardware store that matches your dimensions. Basswood will work fine for a first guitar. OP has larger things to worry about, like fretwork, for example, which is fucking hard if you've never done it before. In fact, now that I think about it, since this is OPs first guitar, I'd have to recommend going with something a little on the cheap side. Just not a slab of knotty pine you found in your parents barn.

Also, to add upon what >>139926 said about finish, don't use nitro OP. The differences between a poly finish and a nitro finish are very noticable on an acoustic guitar. Nitrocellulose generally goes on much thinner. It's also a lot stiffer. This is the main reason why it sounds better. Polyurethane is plastic, basically. It's much softer, so it's almost like coating your guitar in a sort of hard rubber. I shouldn't have to explain why this is bad for tone. It is, however, much easier to work with. I'm a professional luthier and repair tech, and I've built many guitars with nitro, but if I were you, building my first guitar, I'd go with the polyurethane.

>>139949

Oil finish is always a good thing for first timers. Oil/wax finishing has been around for several hundred years. It's vastly easier, and cheaper than paint, and frankly, it looks classier. No need for a shiny ferarri paint job.

>buying wood at a hardware store

never do this. Go to a legitimate lumber yard and you can take your pick of any number of woods from the mahogany family, and leave with a decent slab, or several decent slabs for a glue up, for well under fifty bones.

Fretwork isn't difficult, it just takes a few tries to get it right. There is a fair amount of geometry involved while determining the radius of the fretboard, and all of it's peripheral angles and measurements. It's not as simple as drawing lines and cutting slots. It has to be exact, because intonation depends on it. Once you have the knowledge, the labor is mindless.

OP, buy a neck from Warmoth for your first build. Neckbuilding is somewhat of an art, and if you aren't familiar with all facets of it, you'll just end up with poorly shaped firewood. Make your body, route all of your holes, your neck pocket, do all of your own wiring, install your own machine heads, do all of it yourself... but, BUY THE NECK for your first build.

alternately...

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Guitar-And-Bass-Kits_c_74.html

If you just wanna get your feet wet.

>>139949

I would suggest using automotive acrylic for DIY guitars.

>>139964
>Oil finish
Ooh, forgot about that. I've seen people use gun stock oil, which works fine.

>>139965

>Shiny Ferrari paintjob.

literally.

The setup cost is what makes this not so feasible for first timers, and small-shop builders. In order to be done correctly, you need a booth, compressor, guns of varying sizes, paint, and time for it to cure in a dust-free zone. Multiple coats on multiple coats, plus clear. Not to mention all of the prep work, because auto-acrylic hides no dings or mistakes.

DO NOT use spraypaint. EVER.

>>139970

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17684

http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=50

Not to mention, a 5 hour mistake on a paintjob is only a 40 minute mistake with oil.

>>139972
I just hang up the bodies in my backyard and use my dads compressor and spray guns.

I used pressure pack cans on my first couple of guitars and got good results.

>>139984
Anyone that isn't retarded can get a good finish with a rattle can. Not sure why people swear up and down that it's terrible.

The whole tone thing is an issue if you have an ear for it. The average guitar player doesn't.

>>139994

rattlecans are piss poor because it takes SO long to cure. It's never fully hard, regardless of what you feel. It takes years for rattle can paint to harden fully. If you're playing on it, and sweating on it, it will crack, peel and lift from the body, no matter how good your prep was. Long term, it's bullshit. Short term, if you don't have the equipment, whatever, enjoy sanding the shit off later when it looks like garbage.

>>140001
You are talking about enamel.

Acrylic spray cans like Krylon are great.

>>140003
This.

Also, when properly finished, it will last quite a while.

Build one from a kit first. Go to warmoth.com or stewmac.com. They will have everything you need to build. If you want to paint guitar reranch carries old style nitrocellulose laquer in spray cans that dries up hard and durable.

enjoy Cancer
enjoy aids

>>139905
That shit looks awesome.

>>140072
It's a Squier

>>139905

Yes. Telecaster is a nice simple first build. You can get all the key parts to build one for around $200 on ebay. I've built two Partscasters and I love them both.

>>139925

I'd have to say with Teles though, it'd probably sound fine with pine. They're meant to be thin sounding. Mahogany would be a waste. Mine is ash and it sounds great though.

I'M GOING TO KEEP DOING THIS UNTIL YOU TRIPFAGS LEAVE

>>139964

GuitarFetish gets mixed reviews but I love their Filtertrons...

I'M GOING TO KEEP DOING THIS UNTIL YOU TRIPFAGS LEAVE

Ok, I think I've figured it out
"I've done two of my own custom bass so far.
My first one I started off picking up a cheepy from ebay and gutting the parts and neck for a custom body I made. Kinda figured things out a bit better my second time around which made the pictured better quality. So don't expect to knock one out of the park on your first try. More research=more better

Look into Audio Taper Potentiometers if your going the electric route. The alternative Linear taper pots seem to have this crappy thing where the hardly adjust anything until the last 10% of the dial."